April 6, 2011

Final Stats Game 1
Final Stats Game 2

Mike Allen hit a three-run, go-ahead home run in the opener helping Siena rally for a 6-3 win, and the Saints held on for a 4-3 win in the nightcap, sweeping a non-league baseball doubleheader from Brown in Loudonville Wednesday afternoon.

The victories snapped an eight-game losing streak for the Saints, and marked the first two home wins of the season. It should provide positive momentum for this weekend's MAAC series against Iona Saturday and Sunday in New Rochelle.

Jake Werdesheim picked up his first career victory in the opener, tossing five strong innings and allowing six hits in three earned runs. C.J. Sohl went the final two innings, and was dominant in earning his first save of the season. Sohl did not allow a base runner, and struck out two.

The Saints were down 3-0 entering the bottom of the fifth in game one when they struck for six unearned runs after Kevin Quaranto reached to start the inning on a fielding error. Dan Paolini started the scoring with a sharp RBI single to left, and a few batters later Allen's 3-run shot hooked around the left field foul pole to break a 3-3 tie. It was the first long ball of the sophomore's career, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

Paolini and John Rooney had two hits, a run scored and an RBI in the win for the Saints. Matt DeRenzi collected two hits for Brown.

Larry Balkwill led the Saints with a 3-for-3 performance in the second game, and his first career home run got the Saints on the board in the second.

With the score tied 1-1 in the fourth, Quaranto again reached to start the inning when he was hit by a pitch. He later scored on a line-shot single by Rooney, and Tyler Bell delivered the big hit of the game one out later, lashing a two-out double to left centerfield.

Nicco Stento struck out five and allowed just two earned runs in 5.2 innings on the hill for the Saints. In the process, he earned his first win of the season, and second of his career. Ryan Poplawski came on in a big spot after the Bears closed to within 4-3 with two outs and a man on second in the sixth, and he induced a ground out to get out of trouble. He then worked around a two-out fielding error in the seventh to nail down his fourth save of the season.

Bell ended 2-for-2 with two RBI, teaming with Balkwill to provide six of Siena's eight hits. Josh Feit and Graham Tyler each had two hits for the Bears.